College Honors Verizon Investment with Named Lecture Hall
The Penn State Board of Trustees today (July 11) announced the naming of the Verizon Technology-Enhanced Lecture Hall at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.
The new name recognizes a $100,000 grant from Verizon that supports academic enrichment experiences in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills development for middle and high school students in northwestern Pennsylvania.
The Verizon Technology-Enhanced Lecture Hall, located at 002 Research and Economic Development Center (REDC), is one of two tiered lecture halls equipped with the latest educational technologies—an instructor’s computer integrated with the University network, motorized dual data projection screens, overhead projection cameras, individual data ports, and wireless Internet connectivity.
The second, similarly equipped classroom is the Erie Insurance Technology-Enhanced Lecture Hall, which was supported by a gift from Erie Insurance Group.
Verizon’s grant was made possible by the company’s participation in the state’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program, administered by the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). Inaugurated in 2001, the program authorized $75 million in tax credits to businesses that make contributions to approved scholarship organizations, educational improvement organizations or pre-K educational programs.
Ten of Penn State Behrend’s outreach programs are approved to receive funding through EITC. These are the Penn State Educational Partnership Program (PEPP), Math Options, Chemistry Day, Women in Engineering Day, Minority College Experience/Women in Science and Engineering and 21st Century Kids as well as Pennsylvania Sea Grant’s aquatic sciences outreach programs; Earth Force, an environmental task force for children; Understanding Credit, a program to build financial literacy among middle and high school students; and the Young People’s Chorus of Erie.
“Educational research regularly provides evidence that when children are introduced to higher education and career options early and often, they are not only more likely to stay in high school, but are also more likely to pursue a college education,” Penn State Behrend Chancellor Jack Burke said. “Verizon’s grant
will allow us to continue our enrichment programs for our area’s young people. In this way, it truly represents an investment in the future of the Erie region.”
“Giving students the tools to achieve academic success is vital to the success of our communities,” added Daniel S. Mead, president of New Jersey-based Verizon Services Corp. “This is a great opportunity for Verizon to give back to our communities and to recognize the leadership of an institution now celebrating 60 years of excellence in education and community partnership in northwestern Pennsylvania.”
Mead is a Warren native and member of the Penn State Behrend Council of Fellows.
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, is a comprehensive residential college offering 34 baccalaureate, six associate, four pre-professional and two graduate degree programs with 22 minors to more than 4,400 students. Focused on providing a student-centered environment, Penn State Behrend is the link that connects its students to a major research and land-grant institution on a campus enriched by more than 110 clubs and organizations, 21 NCAA varsity teams and 19 intramural sports.
Penn State Behrend is named in recognition of a donation by Mary Behrend, widow of Ernst Behrend, who founded the Hammermill Paper Co. in Erie in 1898. The Behrend family lived on the 400-acre Glenhill Farm, which is the core of the Penn State Behrend campus today.
For more information, visit behrend.psu.edu.